Sick

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"Liam I can't go I'm sick." It was currently 8 am. I already woke up a few hours ago, around 3 to 4am due to an extreme throbbing headache and also noticed I was burning up, so I took my temperature and sure enough I had a fever.

I couldn't really vividly remember the events that happened, only the fact that I was awoken because of my stupid sickness, and my mom hearing me puke on the toilet. So she, too, was woken up. She tended to me after finding my head on toilet howling my guts out.

The phone was on speaker mode, lying flat beside me on the pillow as my head was plopped down face first on it, wishing somehow that the position would remove the pain that was constantly throbbing in my head.

"You're sick? Wait! Did you get caught up in the rain when you bolted out?"

I peeked out an eye from the pillow to look at the phone. "Maybe?" I said in an unsure, raspy, small voice.

"You careless little--! Why didn't you bring an umbrella?!"

I turned my head to the side, completely facing the phone now, eyebrows knitted and lips up in a slight snarl. "How am I supposed to know it was going to rain?! Besides, just like you said, 'I bolted out'. Suddenly! Abruptly! I walked out without thinking! You thought I was in the state of mind to wonder and think about bringing an umbrella? Goodness this idiot!"

I groaned and grabbed another pillow from the side of the bed and covered my entire head, pressing it down from behind, hoping that it would reduce even an ounce of pain.

"Reyna, you sound terrible. Your voice is like a raspy old witch who's been screaming her entire life."

I got out of the pillow and sat up. Grabbing the pitcher from my nightstand, I poured myself a glass of water, downing it to relieve the rough sensation in my throat. I sniffed through my nose, getting irritated with all the stupid mucus blocking up my airway, making it hard to breathe.

"Shut up." I coughed and coughed until I couldn't seem to catch my breath anymore. Clearing my throat to remove that rough and weird sound coming out of my mouth, I fell down flat on the bed.

"Just go on with the enrolling center without me, my throat feels like sandpaper."

I moved to my side and winced at the light that escaped through my enclosed windows and curtains. I reached out to the curtains and readjusted them, preventing any more light from coming through my room.

"But I don't know what to do." I heard him complain from the other line.

I rolled my eyes at no one in particular.

"Of course you don't."

"Even when sick, you're still sassy like that."

"Shut it, just grab their schedules and subjects, then bring or send it to me. We'll go there as soon as I got better."

"That's good, you're not pushing yourself."

"I would if I could, but this headache is killing me. It's like my head's splitting apart I can't even attempt to stand up without getting dizzy."

I heard a sigh from the other line, followed by some fumbling of sheets.

"I'll come by this lunch and give you some soup and food, alright?" My eyes lit up at what he said, and a pang of slight energy bloomed inside me.

"You careless Reyna." I heard him said with a sigh.

I smiled at the thought of having a taste of his mother's infamous delicious soup. "Mushroom soup?" I asked in a small, hopeful voice.

Don't get this wrong, I love my mother's cooking, it's just this certain dish of Liam's mother is on my favorites.

"Yea, it is. I'll request it from my mom. Are your parents' home?"

"Mhm, my mom's home. She said dad was the one who left the water and medicine on my nightstand. His out for a few days, a business trip I think."

"Your dad's weird."

"Oh please, he's more to than just that don't undermine him."

We laughed and talked more with each other, chuckles and sound of deep and raspy voice mixed and filled up the room that morning.

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A familiar ringtone resonating my room in a loop abruptly woke me up. I couldn't recall when I had fallen asleep, nor when did my call with Liam ended.

I opened my eyes and I was met with a dimly lit room. Only the hues and specks from the deep blue curtain illuminating the area with a navy color were lighting up the place.

I grabbed the device from where the sound came from, which was lying directly beside me on the bed.

Intensely staring at the caller ID for a moment, hoping to readjust my eyesight and the blur of my vision would go away so I could focus on it.

That took a while, and I eventually got irritated and just hit the green button before answering it and brought it to my ear.

"Hello? Who's this?" I couldn't recognize my voice and I wasn't able to comprehend if I've had gotten worse or I'm not just use to hearing a raspy tone coming out of me.

"Woah! What happened to you?"

An all too familiar light-hearted chuckle rang from the other line, "You sound horrible."

I groaned.

'𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.'

"You again? I told you to leave me alone, didn't I?" Sniffing from my nose, I carefully got up, placed a pillow on my back, and rested my head on the bed's head board.

"Uhuh, I don't do well in orders though, but in favors I'll definitely help you. So, what in the world happened to you?"

I sniffed long and hard through my nose.

'𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘶𝘴.'

"And stop sniffing so intensely, you might end up dragging me out of the line from my phone to your place."

"Shut up, airhead, I don't have the energy for this. I have a cold, if it wasn't that obvious to you already. Also stop telling me what to do, you're not the one who has trouble breathing because a bunch of stupid mucus decided to clogged up your nose."

Sound of woods clanging, clashing, and dropping on the ground was heard from the other line before he replied, "Oh right, it was raining when we talked, right? Was it back then? Did you got caught up in the rain?"

I wasn't really that dizzy anymore. The throbbing pain was still there, but it definitely wasn't as worse as it was this morning. All in all, I'm definitely feeling a tad bit better than before.

'𝘎𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯.'

"Yes, it was back then. Now why do you care?"

"Nothin just worried. You drank your medicine yet?"

"Will you stop asking me weird questions? It's not like we're close, we don't even know each other. Why are you calling me again at—what time is it?" I whipped my head to the side where my alarm clock was placed atop of my nightstand.

"11:30." He said at the same time I landed my eyes on the clock.

I pinched the bridge of my nose while the other was still holding the device in my ear. "Weirdo." I muttered to no one in particular.

"Oh yea!" I flinched at sudden volume, instinctively holding the phone away from my ear.

"Will you stop shouting through the speaker? Sick fella here."

"Yup, sorry 'bout that I just remembered something. So before anything else! And before you could hang up on me again. What's your name?"

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I said what's your name?"

He stated the question as if our situation wasn't the most unusual and weird encounter ever been recorded in history.

"I'm not ought to tell you my name, so no."

"Come on, you haven't even saved my number officially, haven't you?"

"Yes, I did not." Shifting my position on the bed, I dangled my feet from the side of the bed and slowly stood up, testing my balance if I could walk.

"Ouch. But I saved yours though."

"Don't care." Taking a step forward, my head spun a bit, but I eventually got used to it and made my way to my desk.

He huffed out a breath, sounding like he was panting, before he let out a reply, "That's not fair, you know my name."

"And that would convince me on what grounds?" I grabbed the laptop bag and crouched down and also take the laptop table below my desk.

"It won't! I'm just gonna annoy you until you die." I raised my eyebrows at his statement.

"That… Might actually happen." I walked back to my bed and settle the laptop table on my bed, brought out the PC and placed it atop.

Creaking of hinges was heard from the other line, "So what's your name?"

I pondered for a second, thinking it thoroughly, if it was really a good idea to tell him my name.

"You're not a serial killer, are you?"

A light-hearted chuckle. "Even if I was, I would still tell you 'no', won't I?" I scrunched my nose and sniffed again.

"Fine,"

'𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘦?'

"It's Leigh."

"Nice name, Leigh. What's your full name though?"

"Why do you still have to know tha—"

Before I could finish my sentence, my door banged open. Its hinges shaking from the force, hitting the wall on impact, causing it to bounce back in momentum.

I let out a high-pitched raspy yelped and unintentionally threw the phone across the bed, rolling away until it was nearly at the edge.

I looked up at the person standing tall and proud in my doorway, a paper and plastic bag on both hands, and a smile plastered on his face, looking directly at me.

After recovering from my startled state, eyes wide and legs up to my chest in a defensive position, I knitted my eyebrows and glared at him ominously.

"Don't you know how to knock, you stupid oaf!"

"Reyna! You're getting mad again! You're probably feeling better now, are you?" He closed the door behind him with a click and walked up to me.

"Don't evaluate me based on my temper, idiot! You banged my door open with no indication! Who wouldn't be surprised!?"

"Me!" He yelled enthusiastically. Dragging the chair from my desk, he place it to my bedside and sat on it.

"Ugh! What are you even doing here?" One by one, Liam brought out the contents of the paper bag he was holding and placed it on my table beside the laptop.

"The fever's probably frying up your brain cells that you already forgot. It's the soup my mother made." He gestured at the round, tight sealed container sitting together with a bunch of small and medium-sized tupperwares.

My mood immediately shifted at what he said, the boiling rage suddenly dissipating into thin air, and my eyebrows unfurrowed, attention suddenly focused, and shifted to the feast in front of me.

"Oh yeah, that." I grinned innocently and looked up at him.

He just chuckled and placed my laptop down on the bed and opened each container one by one, laying it out in front of me properly.

"Come on, eat up and get better already. We have exams coming up."

I obeyed and grabbed the utensils he brought and scooped up a portion of the soup in my spoon.

"Next time knock, will you?" I said as I took a taste of the soup. I sighed in satisfaction.

'𝘛𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯.'

"Sure I will, now eat up." I readjusted on my seat at a much rather comfortable position, leaning and crouching down to have more access with my food.

"Have you eaten?" I asked, while chewing a tempura and sipping a spoonful of soup.

"I ate before I made my way here."

I just nodded and focused my attention on the feast in front of me. We sat in silence; me eating and him emptying the plastic bag's contents, which was medicine intended for my cold, headache, and fever.

While I ate in the ambience of my room, Liam was about to say something, his lips forming the words, when a light sound of a familiar voice echoed throughout my room.

"𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰? 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘰?"

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